The Landry News

There has been no teaching so far this year in Mr. Larson's classroom. There has been learning, but there has been no teaching. There is a teacher in the classroom, but he does not teach.

Cara Landry is a budding journalist. When she posts a scathing editorial about her burned-out teacher on the bulletin board one afternoon, everything changes. Prodded into action for the first time in years, Mr. Larson challenges his fifth-grade students to create a real newspaper. Soon The Landry News gets more attention than either Cara or her teacher bargained for, as the principal uses the paper to try to get Mr. Larson fired. While the whole town is swept up in a dramatic debate over The Landry News and the First Amendment, Mr. Larson uses the show more controversy as raw material for some of the finest teaching of his career. And Cara and her classmates learn the importance of tempering a newspaper's truth with mercy. But will their lessons cost Mr. Larson his job? show less

Cara Landry is a new fifth grader at Denton Elementary School, and she's placed in Mr. Larson's class - but Mr. Larson stopped actively teaching years ago, so in his "open classroom," Cara sits in the back and quietly makes a newspaper, which she tacks up on the wall. The first edition of her paper includes an editorial - about Mr. Larson, who realizes, with the help of his wife (also a teacher) that his students do need him. Together, they all become involved in a "journalism unit," which morphs into a lesson on the First Amendment and freedom of the press when the principal, Dr. Barnes, decides to try to use the Landry News as a tool to fire Mr. Larson.

Quick, clever, funny, and poignant. Slightly dated now in its ideas about divorce show more as a controversial topic, and in technology, but still very entertaining and incisive.

See also: Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, Frindle by Andrew Clements

Quotes

Teachers don't burn out all at once. It happens a little at a time, like the weariness that can overtake a person walking up a steep hill - you begin to get tired and you slow down, and then you feel like you just have to stop and sit and rest. (23)

Finishing a conversation with Ms. Steinert always made him feel like he had just escaped from drowning. (54) show less

Cara Landry is a fifth grader who just launched "The Landry News" in her language arts class by posting a highly critical editorial of her teacher, Mr. Larson - who after being burned out after decades of teaching and personal issues, simply reads his daily newspaper and lets the children do what they wish, and is notorious for not assigning homework for the entire year. Cara is also known for her scathing critical writing - having been jaded by her parents' divorce in the last year. In any case, Cara's article is a wake up call to Mr. Larson, who becomes motivated to challenge his class to publish a real school newspaper.

The newspaper becomes a hit among students, until the principal, Dr. Barnes, gets hold of an issue featuring a show more student's own account of what he experienced when his parents divorced. Citing the article as highly inappropriate, Dr. Barnes uses the publication as an excuse to get Mr. Larson terminated as he had been attempting to do so for years. What unfolds is the greatest teaching moment Mr. Landry's language arts class has ever had.

Although the book may not seem to reflect the reality of most elementary school children - with budget cuts and impacted curricula, what elementary school has the resources to publicize a school newspaper these days? However, with divorce rates being reported as low as 60% and as high as 75% just in California, "The Landry News" effectively illuminates divorce's mental and emotional impact on children, and the unique, range of ways children cope - from anger, to sadness, and acceptance.

The Landry News is an essential read for ages 9-12, and teaches a great lesson on coping in the face of personal challenges. The book can also be used as a valuable tool in teaching First Amendment rights. show less

While it contains an introduction of sorts for middle readers to censorship and the First Amendment to the Constitution, this story is only adequate. Because of its brevity, there's not much room to develop characters, but the discussions on the First Amendment, especially as they apply to student writing, create more heft and momentum. The book does, like its titular newspaper, contain truth and mercy, but it also provides a primer as to why so many writers skirt technology. The passages about computer use will seem (not surprisingly given the 1999 copyright) primitive to today's 10-year-old digital natives.

As a teacher, I find it hard to believe the premise that the burnt-out teacher, who reads the newspaper during his classes, is show more allowed to continue for seven years before 5th grader Cara Landry revivifies his classroom & salvages his pride & his career. Might this premise might fly for its intended audience? Not likely. show less

I have really fond memories attached to this (and other Andrew Clements) books. I first read this one in a 4th grade book club, and absolutely fell in love with Clements' ability to create realistic characters just dealing with school situations, something kids will definitely be able to relate to, since school is pretty much where they spend most of their lives. There's humor everywhere making your way through this book. It also introduces, through simple characters and their interactions and activities in the classroom, a much bigger, more sophisticated and complicated concept: censorship in print publications. Not only does the story toy with the day-to-day goings on of a classroom environment, it touches on issues like divorce and show more classroom politics. One of the things that I really like, as someone who is on track to become a teacher, is the demystification of a teacher's life, telling the students, hey, you know what? Your teacher's not this huge scary power figure at the front of the classroom, he/she's a human being, just like you. It's very cool to see the evolution and growth of one girl's creativity alongside the evolution and growth of her teacher. It's incredibly obvious that Andrew Clements taught, and I'm going to say that's what gave this novel its realism and appeal to such a wide audience. show less

Cara Landry is a fifth-grader whose parents have just gotten divorced. In a new school, she spends her time writing a newspaper, The Landry News. In the first edition, she is very critical of her teacher, Mr. Larson. But as the story unfolds, Mr. Larson nurtures Cara's talents and teaches her a lot about fair and positive newspaper reporting.

Although this book started out a little slow, it picks up pace as conflicts flare between Mr. Larson and the school principal. Along the way, we learn a lot about the first amendment and effective journalism. Both Cara and Mr. Larson are very human characters - likable, but with plenty of flaws. And my son was fascinated by Cara's newspaper project. I even found a copy of a handwritten "newspaper" show more in his backpack. A book that inspires kids to write is definitely a worthwhile read! show less

Another wonderful school story from Clements. I just love how the grownups are real people, too. No cardboard characters, no cliched interactions, no forced drama, just brave kids taking a common school experience to the next level because they're smart enough, and passionate enough, to follow through.